Perceptions and attitudes of gifted and talented secondary school students towards plants

Abstract

The aim of this research is to determine the perceptions and attitudes of gifted and talented students towards plants. The study group was consisted of 140 gifted and talented students, who were attending the Science and Art Centre (BILSEM) in the Marmara region during the autumn semester of the 2015–2016 academic year. The study group was determined through the convenience sampling method. Relational model (one of the descriptive models) and phenomenological research design were implemented in line with the purpose of the study. Quantitative data were obtained using the ‘Plant Attitude Questionnaire’ and qualitative data were acquired with survey form. Quantitative data were subjected to descriptive statistics, independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the SPSS 20 software program. Similarly, the qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. According to the results of the study, it was determined that, for the concept of ‘plant’, the gifted and talented students mostly mentioned human, life, water, breath, lung, air, oxygen, and sun metaphors. The metaphors of the students were categorized as ‘benefit’, ‘characteristic’, ‘environment’, and ‘negative thinking’. It was determined that the general attitudes of the gifted and talented students towards the plants were at a good level. It was also specified that the students’ interests towards the plants, the importance they gave to them and their attitudes to their daily use were also at a good level, but their attitudes towards the city trees were at a low level. It is understood that certain variables such as gender, grade, and duration of attendance at BILSEM did not have a statistically significant effect on general plant attitudes of gifted and talented students.

The nexus between the attitudes and self-concepts of gifted students in an Arab context

“…Unfortunately, studies on the attitudes of students, such as those in secondary schools, toward their participation in gifted programs are very few. Only a small body of literature has looked at the attitudes of GT students [ 32 ] toward gifted programs such as environmental [ 9 , 10 ] and science programs [ 7 , 8 ]. In Turkey, Özarslan [ 9 ] conducted studies of GT students participating in a gifted program organized by the Science and Art Center (Bilsem).…”

“…Only a small body of literature has looked at the attitudes of GT students [ 32 ] toward gifted programs such as environmental [ 9 , 10 ] and science programs [ 7 , 8 ]. In Turkey, Özarslan [ 9 ] conducted studies of GT students participating in a gifted program organized by the Science and Art Center (Bilsem). Both surveys revealed comparable results, demonstrating students’ overall positive attitudes toward plants and recycling.…”

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“…Unfortunately, studies on the attitudes of students, such as those in secondary schools, toward their participation in gifted programs are very few. Only a small body of literature has looked at the attitudes of GT students [32] toward gifted programs such as environmental [9,10] and science programs [7,8]. In Turkey, O ¨zarslan [9] conducted studies of GT students participating in a gifted program organized by the Science and Art Center (Bilsem).…”

“…Only a small body of literature has looked at the attitudes of GT students [32] toward gifted programs such as environmental [9,10] and science programs [7,8]. In Turkey, O ¨zarslan [9] conducted studies of GT students participating in a gifted program organized by the Science and Art Center (Bilsem). Both surveys revealed comparable results, demonstrating students' overall positive attitudes toward plants and recycling.…”

“…It has been suggested that GT students should be enrolled in appropriate programs that encourage their potential and ability to engage in social problem solving [2,3]. To ensure that GT students derive the maximum benefit from such programs, researchers have paid attention to their self-concepts [4][5][6] and attitudes toward participating in them [7][8][9][10]. Such studies, however, have a relatively limited scope because most have been undertaken in highly developed countries, such as the United States [11,12].…”